A&M Becoming Texas Recruiting Force

For years, recruiting in the state of Texas has played out like an unfairly weighted draft. First, that school in Austin takes its pick of 20 to 25 prospects, most of whom commit nearly a year before Signing Day. Then the state's other top programs divvy up the best of the rest.

But now, on the heels of its best football season in 56 years, Texas A&M is asserting itself as the new Lone Star recruiting juggernaut. The momentum from its memorable upset of national champion Alabama, a final top-five AP ranking and a Heisman-winning quarterback is translating into a class that will likely finish among the top three in the SEC and the top 10 nationally for the first time since 2005. For the first time in at least 15 years, the Aggies are poised to assemble a more highly touted haul than their two former Big 12 nemeses, Texas and Oklahoma.